Driving safety

ARTICLES

Older drivers bring knowledge and experience to the workplace. By 2020, 25 percent of workers in the United States will be 55 or older. But this group is not without risk. According to NIOSH, motor vehicle crashes account for 32 percent of all work-related deaths among workers 55 or older.

Construction sites are busy and full of potential dangers. One of these dangers is struck-by incidents. In 2013, more than 17,100 construction workers were injured – and 84 workers died – in struck-by incidents, according to the 2016 edition of the chartbook “Injury Facts,” produced by the National Safety Council.

Backing vehicles and equipment are a serious occupational hazard. The Bureau of Labor Statistics states that, of the 443 struck-by fatalities at road construction sites between 2003 and 2010, 143 cases involved a vehicle or mobile equipment backing up.

Every year, motor vehicle crashes cost employers $60 billion in medical care, legal expenses, property damage and lost productivity, according to a white paper from OSHA, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and the Network of Employers for Traffic Safety.